Karen L. Rodack1,2,3

ID# 370, (1941 - 2015)
FatherJohn Thomas Rodack4,5 (2 May 1912 - 1961)
MotherViolet E. Strelow4,5 (6 Jun 1917 - 10 Nov 2003)

Key Events:

Birth: 24 Oct 1941, Illinois6,7,8
Marriage: Sep 1958, Thomas W. Riesterer (3 Oct 1937 - 17 2017)9
Marriage: 26 Dec 1964, Libertyville, Illinois, Kenneth Robert Glabe (3 Jul 1926 - 21 Jun 1971)10,11
Marriage: about 1977, Mitchell Glenn Link (4 Aug 1941 - 15 Oct 2018)12
Divorce: before 1990, Mitchell Glenn Link (4 Aug 1941 - 15 Oct 2018)13,14
Death: 7 Jul 2015, Tucson, Pima Co., Arizona15,16
ChartsDescendants of Jakob and Anna Katharina Glebe

Copyright Notice

Narrative:

     Karen L. Rodack was born on 24 Oct 1941 in Illinois.6,7,8
     She appeared on the 1950 Federal Census of Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois, in the household of her parents, John Thomas Rodack and Violet E. Strelow.4
     Karen and Thomas W. Riesterer, son of Elmer Riesterer and Agnes [surname unknown], announced their engagement in Sep 1958, stating they intended to marry in June. No record of whether they actually were married has been found.9
Karen Rodack Engagement Photo, 1958
from Chicago Tribune9

     She was an airline stewardess for a time.17
     Karen married second Kenneth Robert Glabe, son of Robert Henry Glabe and Ruth Fern Shaffner, on 26 Dec 1964 in Libertyville, Illinois. He had previously been married to Anne Eleanor Petersen.10,11
     Kenneth and Karen went out to dinner on the evening of 21 Jun 1971 to celebrate his upcoming 45th birthday. On the drive home she told him she felt ill and asked him to stop the car. When she got out, she told police, she encountered a man who shouted "What the hell are you doing here?" As she screamed for help to her husband, the man hit her and knocked her unconscious. A passing motorist found her by the roadside, and Kenneth's body was found nearby, dead of multiple stab wounds.18
     Karen married third Mitchell Glenn Link, son of Aaron Benjamin Link and Esther Porwancher, about 1977.12

Convicted of Murder --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     Her second husband's murder remained unsolved until Apr 1979, when a former Arlington Heights, Illinois, police officer, Preston Scott Haig, was arrested in Roswell, New Mexico, for assaulting his wife. She told police there of his possible involvement in the murder, and he later confessed to investigators from Illinois, saying that he killed Kenneth when he was startled while injecting himself with heroin.19,20
     After his return to Illinois, the ex-officer admitted that he had been hired to commit the murder by Karen and her new husband, Mitchell, supposedly for a large sum of money from the victim's life insurance settlement. All three of them were charged with murder on 28 Apr 1979.21,22 Kenneth's daughter told the press that she thought it odd that police were tying the killing to her father's life insurance, as he had lost a lung to tuberculosis and was therefore a high risk for insurance, but did have a company policy, which was paid to his children. "If they were counting on that money they must have been surprised," she was quoted as saying.23 The ex-officer pled guilty, with his sentence reduced by a plea bargain in which he agreed to testify against the couple charged with hiring him. He was sentenced 14 Sep 1979 to 14 to 28 years.24
     Karen and Mitchell were tried before a jury, with the trial starting 28 Apr 1980 at Circuit Court, Lake Co., Illinois. An officer testified that when she had asked him at the hospital about the condition of her husband she was very startled when he told her he was well and would be brought to her shortly, but later showed no reaction when viewing his body at the morgue. Other testimony reported that the investigation began to focus on her on July 5. They were observed kissing, embracing, and holding hands on the Glabe's front lawn the day of her husband's funeral while she was wearing a bikini. He had moved into the Glabe home by early August.25
     It was revealed that Karen received over $57,000 in life insurance, $34,000 in Social Security benefits, and $6,900 from the Veteran's Administration as a result of her husband's death.26
     The ex-officer testified that the pair had agreed to pay him $5,000 for the murder because Kenneth refused to grant her a divorce, but they had actually paid only $600. He said the plan was for Kenneth and his wife to go to dinner at the Lake-Air Restaurant in Zion, and on the way home she would pretend to be sick and ask him to let her out of the car. She would run up a designated path where the killer was waiting in ambush. The defendants admitted in their testimony that they had an adulterous relationship in 1970, and that she had asked Kenneth for a divorce which he had refused. But they denied planning the murder. He admitted paying the $600, but said it was repayment of a loan. They were convicted by the jury on 6 May 1980, and were sentenced to 35 to 45 years on 2 July, with the judge rejecting their request to be released on bond pending appeal.27,28 The prosecuting attorney denounced the sentence, pointing out that they would be eligible for parole in just over eleven years.29
     Karen and Mitchell appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court, which affirmed their conviction 2 Oct 1981.27 They then appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of the District Court on 18 Feb 1987.30

Resuming Her Life --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     Karen and Mitchell were apparently divorced before 1990, as he remarried then.13,14 Karen moved to Tucson, Arizona, by 2003.5
     In 2010 Karen was a volunteer conductor for the Old Pueblo Historic Trolley system in Tucson, appearing in a number of articles and videos promoting the system.
     Karen died on 7 Jul 2015 in Tucson, Pima Co., Arizona, at age 73.15,16

Children:
     Children with Thomas W. Riesterer:

There were no known children of Thomas and Karen.

Children:
     Children with Kenneth Robert Glabe:

Kenneth and Karen's children are still living.18

Children:
     Children with Mitchell Glenn Link:

There were no known children of Karen and Mitchell.

Citations

  1. [S13105] John T. Rodock household, 1950 U.S. Census, Cook Co., Illinois, shows name as Karen L. Rodock.
  2. [S7307] Violet E. Rodack obituary, Chicago Suburban Daily Herald, shows name as Karen Rodack.
  3. [S4218] "United States Public Records Index," Ancestry.com, record for Karen L. Rodack (1992, 1993).
  4. [S13105] John T. Rodock household, 1950 U.S. Census, Cook Co., Illinois.
  5. [S7307] Violet E. Rodack obituary, Chicago Suburban Daily Herald.
  6. [S13105] John T. Rodock household, 1950 U.S. Census, Cook Co., Illinois, shows age 8 and state.
  7. [S4218] "United States Public Records Index," Ancestry.com, record for Karen L. Rodack (1992, 1993), shows date.
  8. [S7968] "kimglabe", "Kimberly Glabe Family Tree" family tree, Ancestry.com, shows date.
  9. [S7966] "Plans to Marry," Chicago Daily Tribune, 18 Sep 1958.
  10. [S54] Pound, Glabe Family, shows date, town, and state.
  11. [S3494] "Two Convicted for Hiring Killer," Register Star, 4 Jul 1980, shows him as her former husband.
  12. [S3494] "Two Convicted for Hiring Killer," Register Star, 4 Jul 1980, shows they married three years ago.
  13. [S7307] Violet E. Rodack obituary, Chicago Suburban Daily Herald, shows her name as Karen Rodack.
  14. [S13108] Link obituary, Tetrick Funeral Home, shows he remarried in 1990.
  15. [S7968] "kimglabe", "Kimberly Glabe Family Tree" family tree, Ancestry.com, shows date, town, county, and state.
  16. [S7970] Interview, clerk, Wagons West RV Park, 29 May 2018, said she passed away "a couple of years ago."
  17. [S7971] Nash, Look for the Woman, pg 168, shows her as a one-time airline stewardess.
  18. [S3934] "Father of 5 Is Murdered," Ironewood Daily Globe, 30 Jun 1971.
  19. [S3935] "Murder Suspect Reveals New Motive," Roisewell Daily Record, 2 May 1979, shows he was charged with aggravated battery.
  20. [S3494] "Two Convicted for Hiring Killer," Register Star, 4 Jul 1980, shows that his wife revealed his involvement.
  21. [S3936] "Ex-Arlington Cop Cited in Killing," The Daily Hearld, 1 May 1979.
  22. [S3935] "Murder Suspect Reveals New Motive," Roisewell Daily Record, 2 May 1979.
  23. [S3937] "Killing Rendered Birthday Tragic," The Daily Hearld, 4 May 1979.
  24. [S3938] "Ex-cop Gets 14-28 Year for Killing Zion Printer," The Daily Hearld, 15 Sep 1979.
  25. [S7969] Mitchell Link and Karen Link v. Michael Lane, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Brief and Argument for Respondent-Appellee, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, pp 4-5, citing the Report of Proceedings covering petitioners state court trial in People v Link et al No 79 CF 331.
  26. [S7969] Mitchell Link and Karen Link v. Michael Lane, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Brief and Argument for Respondent-Appellee, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, pg 5, citing the Report of Proceedings covering petitioners state court trial in People v Link et al No 79 CF 331.
  27. [S3939] People of the State of Illiniois v. Mitchell Link et al., Illinois Appellate Court - Second District (2 Oct 1981), 100 Ill.App.3d 1000, 56 Ill.Dec. 394, 427 N.E.2d 589.
  28. [S3494] "Two Convicted for Hiring Killer," Register Star, 4 Jul 1980.
  29. [S7971] Nash, Look for the Woman, pg 168.
  30. [S3940] Mitchell Link and Karen Link v. Michael Lane, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, ( 18 Feb 1987 ).